Geographical Dynamics and Firm Spatial Strategy in China

This book offers the first detailed account of the complex geographical dynamics currently restructuring China’s export-oriented industries. The topics covered are relevant to post-socialist geography, development studies, economics, economic sociology and international studies. It offers academics, international researchers, postgraduate and advanced undergraduate students in these fields an accessible, grounded, yet theoretically sophisticated account of the geographies of global production networks, value chains, and regional development in developing countries and emerging economies. It is of particular interest to economic geographers and economic sociologists involved in the growing debates over local clusters, embeddedness, global sourcing and global production, and over the global value chain/global production network. It also appeals to national policymakers, since it directly addresses economic and industrial policy issues, such as industrial competitiveness, regional and national development, industrial and employment restructuring and trade regulation.

(1) Shengjun ZhuCollege of Urban and Environmental SciencesPeking University Beijing 100871, ChinaEmail: zhus@pku.edu.cn Shengjun Zhu joins the College of Urban and Environmental Sciences at Peking University (China) from Swansea University (UK), where he worked as a lecturer for two years. He received a Ph.D. in Geography at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (USA). Before coming to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he earned a Bachelor and Master Degree in Geography and a Bachelor Degree in Economics from Peking University, China. His major interests lie in globalization; regional development; global production networks; global value chains; industrial relocation and delocalization; industrial, social and environmental upgrading/downgrading. With his inter-disciplinary research and education background, Dr. Zhu is able to thoroughly investigate research questions and offer unique insights and perspectives. His papers have been published in some high-quality academic journals, including Journal of Contemporary Asia, Geoforum, Eurasian Geography and Economics, Geojournal and Post-communist Economies. At the same time, Dr. Zhu has accumulated abundant industrial experience from various consulting projects. Selected Recent Publications:Zhu, S., C. He and Y. Liu. 2014. “Going Green or Going Away: Environmental Regulation, Economic Geography and Firms’ Strategies in China’s Pollution-intensive Industries.” Geoforum, 55: 53-65.Lan, T. and S. Zhu (corresponding author). 2014. “Chinese Apparel Value Chains in Europe: Low-end Fast Fashion, Regionalization, and Transnational Entrepreneurship in Prato, Italy.” Eurasian Geography and Economics, 55(2): 156-174. Zhu, S. and C. He. 2014. “Global, Regional and Local: New Firm Formation and Spatial Restructuring in China’s Apparel Industry.” GeoJournal, 79(2): 237-253. Zhu, S. and J. Pickles. 2014. “Bring in, Go up, Go West, Go Out: Upgrading, Regionalisation and Delocalisation in China's Apparel Production Networks.” Journal of Contemporary Asia, 44(1): 36-63. Zhu, S. and C. He. 2013. “Geographical Dynamics and Industrial Relocation: Spatial Strategies of Apparel Firms inNingbo, China.” Eurasian Geography and Economics, 54(3): 342-362. (2) John PicklesEarl N. Phillips Distinguished Professor of International StudiesDepartment of GeographyUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillSaunders Hall, Campus Box 3220Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3220Phone: (919)962-3919Email: jpickles@unc.edu John Pickles is an economic geographer trained in political economy and development studies, cultural and social theory, and continental philosophy.  His research currently focuses on global production networks, European economic and social spaces particularly post-socialist transformations in Central Europe and Euro-Med Neighborhood Policies in Southern Europe.  He also works on the cultural economies of maps and mapping, counter-mapping, and the use of maps in social movements.  He holds BA and MA degrees from O